Tokyo/Beijing, November 18: Japan sought on Monday to cool an escalating diplomatic dispute with China over Taiwan, after Beijing urged its citizens to halt travel to Japan in response to remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on potential military action.
The flare-up began after Takaichi told lawmakers this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response — a rare public acknowledgment of such a scenario by a Japanese leader. Previous administrations have avoided discussing Taiwan contingencies so as not to provoke Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own.
In an effort to ease tensions, Masaaki Kanai, the Japanese foreign ministry’s top official for Asia and Oceania, arrived in Beijing to meet his counterpart, Liu Jinsong. Japanese media said Kanai would stress that Tokyo’s security policy had not changed and call on China to avoid further moves that strain ties.
“Various channels of communication are open,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary told reporters, adding that Tokyo had made a “firm request” for China to take appropriate steps. He said Beijing’s travel advisory was inconsistent with mutual efforts to promote “strategic, mutually beneficial” relations.
China, however, signalled little willingness to soften its stance. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Premier Li Qiang had no plans to meet Takaichi at this week’s G20 summit in South Africa and urged Japan to retract its “wrongful” comment.
In Taipei, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te accused China of launching a “multifaceted attack” on Japan. He urged the international community to stay alert and called on Beijing to act with restraint “befitting a major power.”
Analysts warned that tensions could persist. “China knows that Takaichi can’t retract her comment,” said Kenji Minemura of the Canon Institute for Global Studies. “Its demand is meant to ramp up pressure on Japan, not resolve the issue.”
The dispute has widened rapidly. China summoned Japan’s ambassador last week for the first time in more than two years, lodging a strong protest over Takaichi’s remarks. Tokyo, in turn, protested a now-deleted post by China’s consul general in Osaka, who wrote that “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.” Several Japanese lawmakers have since called for his expulsion.
China’s defence ministry on Friday warned that Japan would face a “crushing” defeat if it intervened over Taiwan and raised concerns about Tokyo’s long-standing non-nuclear principles amid domestic debate about easing those pledges.
On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels entered waters near the disputed East China Sea islets known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Japan’s coast guard said it drove the ships away. Tokyo also scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese drone flew between Taiwan and Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni.
The United States has also weighed in, with its ambassador to Japan, George Glass, criticising the Chinese diplomat’s remarks on X, saying it was “time to move on” after he called Takaichi an “evil witch.”
China’s state-linked media kept up the pressure on Monday, with the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily accusing Takaichi of “strategic recklessness” and “deliberate provocation.”
The deepening rift has raised concerns about economic fallout. Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, said a drop in Chinese visitor numbers similar to the roughly 25% fall seen during a 2012 island dispute could halve Japan’s annual growth. Tourism-linked shares slid, with department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi down 11.3% and Japan Airlines falling 3.7%.
As tensions show no signs of easing, analysts warn that pressure could mount in the coming months, keeping relations between Asia’s two largest economies strained.
